Part 2One Hour Too Late: The Heart He Broke Forever

It was the little girl who had been sitting next to me.

While I was still alive, we had talked for a bit.

We’d even traded nicknames. She called me the "Pretty Boy," and I called her "Sweet Pea."

Sweet Pea looked at the glowing screen, trying to read the text.

But she was only five; the words were just shapes to her.

She frowned, looked at me for a long time, and then gently tucked the phone back into my hand.

She didn't want to wake me.

"Pretty Boy," she whispered. "You dropped your phone. Hold it tight."

When I didn't answer, she skipped back to her mother’s arms.

A few minutes later, the phone buzzed again.

Another text from Keir: [I’m already at St. Mary’s.]

[If you want to come, call an Uber yourself.]

He had promised to pick me up.

Why did he change his mind? Was he not feeling well?

Worrying about him, my spirit was suddenly yanked away.

In a blink, I was floating in the hallway of St. Mary’s Medical Center.

The first person I saw was Keir.

He was in a charcoal-grey bespoke suit, his back to me, talking on the phone.

He looked as mature and handsome as ever. No amount of stress seemed to touch him.

I drifted toward him, intending to play a ghostly prank, when I heard him speak.

"The doctor is checking Caleb now. He should be fine. Don't worry, Mom."

Caleb?

Why was he here?

A second later, the exam room door opened.

Keir hung up and walked over. "How is he?" he asked the person walking out.

"Keir, the doctor said it's nothing serious," Caleb said.

He grabbed Keir’s arm, his brow furrowed in a practiced wince. "But I still feel really shaky. Can you stay with me?"

Caleb was such an actor. He was definitely faking it.

I felt a surge of ghostly annoyance. I tried to grab his neck, but my hands just passed right through his throat.

I watched Keir give Caleb a small, rare smile.

"Okay," he said softly.

Keir was tall and imposing, with sharp features and a gaze that could be chillingly cold.

When he wasn't speaking, he carried an air of effortless authority.

But whenever he smiled at me, I thought he was the gentlest man on earth.

But Keir hadn't smiled at me in a very long time.

"However," Keir’s gentle expression faded slightly.

"Leo should be arriving soon. I have to take him for his heart check-up."

A flash of resentment crossed Caleb’s eyes, but he hid it instantly.

He smiled and said, "Keir, you’re the best person I know. Leo isn't even your real brother, and he’s lied to you so many times. I can't believe you're still being this good to him."

Memories of my "lies" must have hit Keir. His face darkened.

"This is the last time," he said, his voice flat.

"After today, if he comes looking for me with another one of his stunts, I won't see him."

I hovered in that sterile, white hallway.

The cold wind from an open window seemed to blow right through me.

It was strange.

How could my heart still hurt if I was dead?

It really is the last time, I thought.

Keir. I won't bother you ever again.

Because I think I’m already gone.

Caleb looked pleased with Keir’s answer. He started to pull him toward the exit.

Before they reached the door, Keir’s phone rang.

I drifted closer and heard the voice on the other end: "Mr. Sterling, do you have any news about Leo?"